▪ Campfire Use

▪ Campfire Impacts

▪ Cooking Fires

▪ Leave No Trace Principle #5: Minimize Campfire Impacts

▪ Fire Rings, Mounds, & Pans

▪ Firem’n Chit: Responsibilities

▪ Firem’n Chit: Rights

▪ Campfire Safety

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▪ Why have a Campfire?

▪ A Campfire can warm you, cook your food, and dry your clothes.

▪ Bright Flames can Lift your Spirits on a Rainy Morning.

▪ At Night, Glowing Embers Will Stir your Imagination.

▪ Require no special equipment

▪ A Good Scout Knows How To Build A Fire, Especially In An Emergency

▪ He Also Knows There Are Often Reasons Why He Should Not Light A Fire

▪ Bonfires Are Not Appropriate

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▪ Campfires Can Sterilize Soil. Vegetation Might Have A Hard Time Growing Again Where a Fire Has Been.

▪ Fires Burn Dead Branches, Bark and Other Organic Matter that Would Have Provided Shelter and Food for Animals & Plants

▪ Fire Sites Can Char the Ground, Blacken Rocks, and Spoil the Appearance of the Land, Especially in Heavily-used Campgrounds

▪ Campfires Must Be Closely Watched To Prevent Them From Spreading Into Surrounding Grasses, Brush, & Trees.

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▪Campfires can be used for cooking if you don’t have a

stove.

▪Key to cooking over a campfire is to let fire burn down to

bed of hot coals.

▪Can take 20-30 mins ꟷ be sure to account for that time.

▪Flames will char outside of food while leaving inside

uncooked. (You’ve probably experience this if you’ve

roasted marshmallows over a hot fire.)

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▪ Lighting a fire brings with it the responsibility to protect the environment.

▪ The principles of outdoor ethics will guide you in deciding whether a fire is appropriate and then building it in a way that minimizes its impact.

▪ Outdoor Code: As an American, I will do my best to be … Careful with Fire.

▪ Leave No Trace Principle #5: Minimize Campfire Impacts

▪ Find out ahead of time if fires are allowed in the camping area you will be using.

▪ Even where fires are permitted, a lightweight stove is often a better choice than a cooking fire.

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▪ Campfires can cause lasting impacts to the backcountry. Use a lightweight stove for cooking and enjoy a candle lantern for light.

▪ Where fires are permitted, use established fire rings, fire pans, or mound fires.

▪ Keep fires small. Only use sticks from the ground that can be broken by hand.

▪ Burn all wood and coals to ash, put out campfires completely, then scatter cool ashes.

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▪ Campfire spot established by land managers.

▪ Made of metal or rock.

▪ Some have grills.

▪ Best place for a campfire.

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▪ Need Mineral Soil: Silt, Clay, or Sand that has No Organic Matter that Could Be Impacted by Heat▪ Streambeds,

▪ Gullies,

▪ Beaches, &

▪ In the Roots of Uprooted Trees

▪ Use a pot, bucket, or stuff sack to carry mineral soil to fire site

▪ On top of a Tarp, Ground Cloth, or Special Fire Blanket form the soil into a mound:▪ 6 to 8 inches thick

▪ 18 to 24 inches in diameter

▪ Build Fire on Top of Mound

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▪ Metal Trays with sides high enough (over three inches) to contain burning wood & ashes

▪ Where weight and bulk is not a great concern (e.g., frontcountry campouts), a BBQ grill pan or metal oil drain pan can be used.

▪ For backpacking, lightweight aluminum pans can be used.

▪ Protect the ground from heat by lining the fire pan with several inches of mineral soil or elevated on rocks.

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1. Read and understand fire use and safety rules from Boy Scout Handbook.

2. Build a campfire only when necessary & with necessary permits.

3. Minimize campfire impacts or use existing fire lays consistent with Leave No Trace. All flammable material cleared at least 5 feet in all directions from fire (total 10 feet).

4. Safely use & store fire starting materials.

5. Fire is attended to at all times.

6. Water and/or a shovel is readily available. Promptly report any wildfire to proper authorities.

7. Make sure fire is cold-out & fire lay is cleaned before I leave it.

8. Follow Outdoor Code & Leave No Trace principles.

The Scout's "Firem'n Rights" can be taken from him if he fails in his responsibility.

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▪ When A Scout

▪ Has Read Fire use and safety section in the Boy Scout Handbook (pp. 303-304, 387), and

▪ Knows & Accepts That Handling Matches & Building Fires Means Responsibility.

▪ A Scout is Granted “Firem’n Rights” and So Can Carry Matches and Build A Campfire.

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▪ How to Pick Your Campfire Spot

▪ How to Prepare Your Campfire Pit

▪ How to Build Your Campfire

▪ How to Maintain Your Campfire

▪ How to Extinguish Your Campfire

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1. DO NOT build a campfire if the campground, area or event rules prohibit them. Sometimes digging of pits may be prohibited due to archaeological or other concerns.

2. DO NOT build a campfire in hazardous, dry conditions.

3. FIND OUT if the campground has an existing fire ring or fire pit.

4. If there is not an existing fire pit, and pits are allowed, choose a site at least 15 feet from tent walls, shrubs, trees or other flammable objects. Beware of low-hanging branches.

5. Choose an open, level location away from heavy fuels such as logs, brush or decaying leaves.

6. Take wind, and its direction, into account when choosing the site. Choose a spot that’s protected from gusts.

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1. Clear a 10-foot-diameter area around the site. Remove any grass,

twigs, leaves and firewood.

2. Dig a pit in the dirt, about a foot deep.

3. Circle the pit with rocks.

4. Your campfire pit is built and ready for building a campfire!

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1. First, make sure you have a source of water, a bucket and shovel nearby at all times.

2. Gather three types of wood from the ground.

3. Loosely pile a few handfuls of tinder in the center of the fire pit.

4. Lay the Wood

5. Ignite the tinder with a match or lighter.

6. Wait until the match is cold, and discard it into the fire.

7. Add more tinder as the fire grows.

8. Blow lightly at the base of the fire.

9. Add kindling and fuel, the larger firewood, to keep the fire going.

10. Keep the fire small and under control.

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Never cut whole trees or branches, dead or alive. Live materials won’t burn, and you’ll be

damaging the forest. Dead standing trees often are homes for birds and other wildlife.

Using a knife, saw, and ax, prepare tinder, kindling, and fuel wood for a cooking fire. (SC 2b)

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Add kindling in one of these methods:

Best for cooking

Teepee: Lay the kindling over the tinder like you’re building a tent.

Lean-to: Drive a long piece of kindling into the ground at an angle over the tinder. Lean smaller pieces of kindling against the longer piece.

Best for long-lasting campfires

Cross: Crisscross the kindling over the tinder.

Log Cabin: Surround your pile of tinder with kindling, stacking pieces at right angles. Top the “cabin” with the smallest kindling.

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1. Never cut whole trees or branches, dead or alive. Live materials won’t burn and dead standing trees — called “snags” — are often homes for birds and other wildlife.

2. Once you have a strong fire going, add larger pieces of dry wood to keep it burning steadily.

3. Don’t burn dangerous things like aerosol cans, pressurized containers, glass or aluminum cans. They could explode, shatter and/or create harmful fumes or dust.

4. Build each fire just large enough for your needs to minimize the amount of wood burned and to make it easier to erase signs of a fire once done.

5. Make sure children and pets are supervised near the fire. Never leave your campfire unattended. Take responsibility for every campfire by keeping an eye on it at all times.

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▪ Extinguish every fire when you no longer need it or if you won’t be around to watch it.

▪ Allow the wood to burn completely to ash, if possible.

▪ Splash water on the embers. Pour lots of water on the fire. Drown ALL embers, not just the red ones. Pour until hissing sound stops.

▪ Stir the damp ashes with a stick and splash them again.

▪ With a shovel, scrape any remaining sticks and logs to remove any embers. Make sure that no embers are exposed and still smoldering.

▪ If you do not have water, stir dirt or sand into the embers with a shovel to bury the fire.

▪ Repeat this process until the fire is cold out ꟷ cold enough so that when you hold your hand just above the ashes, you do not feel any heat.

Remember: If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to leave

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▪ Firem’n Chit: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/MeritBadges/firem.aspx

▪ Leave No Trace, Minimize Campfire Impacts: https://lnt.org/learn/principle-5

▪ Troop Program Resources Videos:▪ Fire Building: http://www.programresources.org/fire-building/

▪ Lighting and Feeding a Fire: http://www.programresources.org/lighting-and-feeding-a-fire/

▪ Laying a Fire: http://www.programresources.org/laying-a-fire/

▪ After a Fire: http://www.programresources.org/after-a-fire/

▪ How to Light a Fire by Friction: http://www.programresources.org/bow-and-drill/

▪ Smokey Bear Campfire Safety: https://smokeybear.com/en/prevention-how-tos/campfire-safety

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